Most, if not all, production vehicles today include a basic factory installed sound system. Of course, the purchaser of a vehicle may designate at extra cost an optional original equipment manufacture (OEM) sound system providing greater sound reproduction capabilities than the basic system. However, even the most expensive OEM sound systems are not adequate for the tastes of many music connoisseurs.
As a result, music connoisseurs are frequently drawn to professional aftermarket vehicular sound system businesses which provide and install the most technologically advanced sound systems available. Unfortunately, such aftermarket sound system upgrades require professional and/or tedious installation procedures almost always permanently altering the interior of the vehicle to accommodate the additional and larger loud speakers, etc. It will be readily appreciated that once aftermarket sound system upgrades have been incorporated into a vehicle, future changes to the sound system are always complicated by the permanent alternations previously made to the vehicle interior.
The prior art teaches overhead vehicular loud speaker cabinet assemblies which do not physically damage the interior of the vehicle, or if any alteration is required, it is deminimis. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,099,026 to Persson et al, issued Jul. 4, 1978 and 4,673,056 to Koppelomaki, issued Jun. 16, 1987, disclose monolithic loud speaker cabinet assemblies for overhead vehicular installation. These cabinet assemblies include curved flanges at the lateral ends thereof to accommodate the well known garnish molding installation practice. Although the loud speaker cabinet assemblies disclosed in these patents function satisfactorily, certain improvements thereto would be desired. For example, the center or mid portions of these cabinet assemblies are not proximally supported by the vehicular roof. Failure to support the mid portion of the cabinet assembly frequently yields an unsightly gap along the headliner, which gap is prone to enlargement over time. Additionally, the unsupported mid portion of the cabinet assembly allows flexure of the cabinet assembly which may, over time, compromise the structural integrity of the cabinet assembly and accelerate premature failure of the loud speakers.
This problem of lacking support for the mid portion of the cabinet assembly has been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,316 to Rosen, issued Mar. 10, 1992 and assigned to the assignee of the subject invention. The Rosen patent discloses additional fastening elements extending between the mid portion of the cabinet assembly and a cross bar of the vehicle to diminish the flexure of the cabinet assembly which would otherwise lead to structural compromise and premature loud speaker failure. The cabinet assembly disclosed in the Rosen patent is well adapted for use in recreational and off-road vehicles such as Jeeps.RTM. and the like where a cross bar is available on which to connect the fastening elements supporting the mid portion of the cabinet assembly. However, the cabinet assembly disclosed in the Rosen patent is not readily adaptable to cross bar-less vehicles having a headliner, where the visual impact of a noticeable gap between the cabinet assembly and the headliner/roof of the vehicle is of concern.